Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo is thrilled to welcome you to The Hong Kong Sessions, Fall 2023, online auction, running from 6:00 PM HKT, Thursday, September 21, to 6:00 PM HKT, Thursday, September 28. Featuring more than 130 different high-end luxury wristwatches, the sale covers everything from A. Lange & Söhne and F.P. Journe to Audemars Piguet and Patek Philippe. It even includes numerous examples of the Chanel watches featured in this story.
– Logan Baker
Watches won’t be the first thing you think of when it comes to Chanel.
Handbags? Of course. Fragrances? Naturally. Haute couture and ready-to-wear? Obviously.
But Chanel watches? They're positioned near the bottom of the French fashion empire’s categorical org chart, landing somewhere between makeup and eyewear.
That’s all well and fair. Watches are a comparatively new addition to the Chanel brand identity, joining the company catalog in 1987. Even if they might never displace Chanel N°5 and the iconic chain-laden purses as Chanel’s flagship products, it’s important to understand and respect the investment and thoughtfulness for how Chanel has approached the world of watchmaking.
Let’s start at the beginning.
Chanel introduced its first watch in 1987: the quartz-powered Première. Designed by Jacques Hélleu, while the brand was led by Karl Lagerfeld, the case of the Première channeled the familiar faceted design of Chanel’s globally recognized N°5 perfume. The watch’s chain-link bracelet, meanwhile, recalled the chain-style strap found on many of Chanel’s most popular historic handbag designs.
Distinctly feminine and clearly Chanel, the Première represented a solid start for Chanel’s watchmaking efforts. So much so that Chanel went ahead in 1993 and acquired an existing watchmaking facility in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland – a firm called G&F Châtelain.
The acquisition of a Swiss watchmaking facility underneath the Chanel banner was a game-changer for the company’s watchmaking abilities and a sign of confidence internally for the department’s growth ability.
It was also a sign that Chanel would continue to be aggressive in the segment in looking for acquisition targets and external investment opportunities.
The next big bet on watchmaking for Chanel came in 1998, when the organization became a major investor in Bell & Ross, a young French startup focused on accessibly priced mechanical sport watches with a flair for military and aviation-inspired design.
Designer Bruno Belamich (Bell) and entrepreneur Carlos Rosillo (Ross) created the brand in 1992 with production assistance from Germany’s Sinn – early B&R watches were labeled "Bell & Ross by Sinn." The business grew consistently over the next few years, until Rosillo realized they needed considerably more financial investment to meet the increasing demand.
Both proud French-born organizations, the relationship between Bell & Ross and Chanel started through a mutual respect for each other’s operations. One of Bell & Ross’ first retailers in New York was located directly across from Chanel’s headquarters in the city. So when Rosillo started reaching out to Chanel’s business leaders regarding a capital investment, they were already aware of his nascent brand. He was shocked to find numerous Chanel executives already wearing Bell & Ross watches when he met with them for the first time.
Bell & Ross watches would soon be manufactured right alongside Chanel’s pieces at the company’s La Chaux-de-Fonds facility.
More than a decade went by between the initial launch of the Première and Chanel’s next major watch introduction. But it was well worth the wait. The release of the J12 collection in 1999 quickly became Chanel’s flagship timepiece – a position it still holds today, over two decades later.
Hélleu was once again the lead designer for Chanel for the J12, this time developing a monochromatic gender-neutral sport watch with a mechanical movement ticking inside and a forward-looking case made entirely of ceramic.
The J12 has occasionally been disregarded by some enthusiasts as too close of a design relative to existing dive-style watches, like the Rolex Submariner. Those commenters are missing the point – sure, the J12 shares numerous design codes with the Submariner, plenty of dive watches do, but what the J12 did so well for its time is that it successfully bridged a gap in the market for a fashion-forward nongendered timepiece. And it was made of ceramic! Very few watchmakers were using ceramic in the 1990s, and it was a huge gamble for a massive organization like Chanel to embrace the material and even make it a primary selling point in its new watch collection.
It's a gamble that paid off. The J12 remains Chanel’s top-selling watch collection, and I believe it far-and-away holds the title today of the most famous high-end mechanical watch created by a mainstream fashion house or jeweler, beating out contenders like the Bulgari Octo Finissimo, Louis Vuitton Tambour, and Hermès Slim d'Hermès.
The story of watchmaking at Chanel in the 2000s was driven by the success of the J12 and its countless evolutions and iterations, but Chanel's horological story shifted once again in the 2010s, emphasizing Chanel’s serious interest and investment in the craft of high-end Swiss watchmaking.
First came Romain Gauthier, an independent watch company founded in 2004 in Le Sentier. Chanel had approached Gauthier in 2011 while searching for advisement on a new high-end watchmaking project. They walked out of the meeting so impressed with Gauthier’s approach to watchmaking that they decided to support his work with an investment, taking a minority stake in the business that same year.
Their investment has been rewarded by Gauthier’s continued growth ever since, in addition to being able to call on Gauthier for occasional horological support, such as with 2016’s Monsieur de Chanel watch.
Chanel took a similar investment in another leading independent watchmaker in 2018. They shocked the watch community with the acquisition of a 20-percent stake in F.P. Journe that year. Journe, who remains the majority owner of his eponymous company, is a close friend of Chanel’s current owners, the Wertheimer brothers, who are said to be avid watch collectors. Journe has no children, and now in his late sixties, he opted to bring in an outside shareholder in the form of Chanel, a family-operated organization he trusts and that’s from his native France, to protect the brand's future integrity.
However, the most recent major development to come from the house of Chanel is an unlikely team-up with Rolex, through its sibling entity, Tudor. Shortly after the F.P. Journe announcement, it was reported that Chanel had also acquired a 20-percent stake in Kenissi, an industrial manufacturing facility established by Tudor that has since become an important supplier of high-grade, customizable ébauche movements throughout the Swiss watch industry.
Chanel might not immediately have the name recognition as a major force in luxury Swiss watchmaking, but the combination of its strategic investments in outside brands and manufacturing facilities has placed it in a powerful position of influence. It’s no surprise that Chanel was considered by many to be one of the five most important exhibitors – alongside Patek Philippe, Rolex, Tudor, and Chopard – to make the transition from showing new watch releases at Baselworld to Watches & Wonders in 2020/21.
You can learn more, place a bid, and view the entire Hong Kong Sessions, Fall 2023, catalog here.
H/T to Malaika Crawford of Hodinkee for reigniting the pro-Chanel watchmaking conversation earlier this year after publishing a fantastic overview of the brand's horological history.
About Phillips In Association With Bacs & Russo
The team of specialists at PHILLIPS Watches is dedicated to an uncompromised approach to quality, transparency, and client service. Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo holds the world record for the most successful watch auction, with its Geneva Watch Auction: XIV having realized $74.5 million in 2021. Over the course of 2021 and 2022, the company sold 100% of the watches offered, a first in the industry, resulting in the highest annual total in history across all the auction houses at $227 million.
About Logan Baker
Logan has spent the past decade reporting on every aspect of the watch business. He joined Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo at the start of 2023 as the department's Senior Editorial Manager. He splits his time between New York and Geneva.
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